I AM alarmingly excited by news of the royal engagement and the prospect of a lavish royal wedding next year.

That, I am sure, is a feeling I share with the large majority of people in Britain and, indeed, around the world. But it came as something of a shock to me because I do not actually believe in the monarchy. I am, it may come as something of a surprise to regular Sunday Express readers, a staunch and long-standing republican. Cue gasps of horror over the breakfast table as Princess Diana memorial china cups are dropped! It’s not the people I don’t like.

Prince William seems, despite his privileged upbringing and wealth, to be a thoroughly nice and sensible man who, unlike so many royal princes before him, earns his own living doing a very worthwhile job as an RAF air-sea rescue pilot. It’s the institution that bothers me. As a fervent believer in democracy, I think it’s preposterous that in this day and age we should be expected to look up to someone in a position of authority who is there only by virtue of their birth. I want my head of state to be chosen based on his or her own personal achievements or merits, not on who their parents were or whether they were the first born of their siblings.

I want everyone in this country, just as they are in the United States, to be equally eligible for the job of being head of state, whether they are a man or a woman, the eldest or the youngest in a family, or even whether they are a Catholic, Muslim or Jew or an atheist. Indeed, I can’t think of anything worse to impose on a newborn baby than the pressure of being destined for only one role in life, as either the heir or (in Prince Harry’s case) the spare.

Prince William, for all his privileges, will never have the freedom to carve his own future and decide what he wants to do with his life. That was all decided for him long, long ago. Long before even his birth.

Instead of being able to forge his own path in life, his job now, through a simple accident of birth, is to wait for his grandmother and father to die. Yes, I know that sounds horrible but that is what a hereditary monarchy means in reality.

So, given that I don’t actually believe in the institution that Prince William will one day lead, you might be forgiven for expecting me to be leading the calls for his engagement to Kate Middleton to be thrown off the front pages in favour of “proper news”, for an “austerity wedding” all paid for by the royals themselves and not a penny of taxpayers’ cash to go towards a single canapé.

But you’d be wrong. Instead, I find myself fascinated by every snippet of gossip about the royal couple and their impending nuptials and I will be glued to the TV when the Big Day finally comes.

If we’re going to have a monarchy then by all means let’s have the pomp and circumstance (and the accompanying multi-million pound security bill) that goes with it.

The marriage of the future king is without doubt a national occasion and, frankly, after the past couple of years I think we all need a bit of cheering up.

So, as much as I wish Prince William could have enjoyed an entirely different life, I wish him and his fiancée all the best for their future. Oh, and just one more thing.

If we did have democratic elections to choose our head of state the irony is that Prince William would probably win the job anyway, not through an accident of birth but on his own merits.